Meeting scheduled to look into Cooper River Bridge Run delay

2012-04-02T23:20:26Z2012-04-03T00:20:00Z

MOUNT PLEASANT, SC (WCSC) -

What caused all the hold up? It's a question about 40,000 bridge runners have been asking since being delayed at the starting line for over an hour on Saturday. This week, officials with the Cooper River Bridge Run will be trying to pinpoint the problem as well.

Officials say the delay started with bus transportation over the bridge and to the start line. But they have no idea why the issue started.

Ken Ayoub, the chairman of the bridge run board, says the initial delay started downtown. Buses to get runners across the bridge into Mt. Pleasant were delayed for some reason.

From there he says everything else snowballed into an hour plus wait for the first group of runners at the start line. Ayoub says he's already heard from some disappointed runners.

"We expect that backlash," Ayoub said."We don't know exactly what went wrong. We're trying to determine that now, where it failed and we're going to come up with solutions to it."

Ayoub says the real question is whether the run is getting too big for it's surroundings; 36,000 runners crossed the finish line this year. Ayoub says that's the most there's ever been.

He also mentioned another factor that may have delayed the race. The weather. Officials say they erred on the side of caution because of the possibility of rain.

A board meeting is scheduled for later this week to determine exactly what went wrong to cause the delay. Ayoub says this is the first time in the 35 year history there has been a problem like this.

A traffic navigation app used to avoid traffic tie ups Thursday morning directed drivers into neighborhoods, making residents angry. The repair work on the Wando Bridge along with a series of accidents in the Tri-County area made the morning commute miserable for many drivers. The Waze app is designed to tell drivers the fastest route and the best way to avoid heavy traffic. People who live in Dominion Hills in Hanahan say every day they deal with drivers cutting through their stre...More >>

A traffic navigation app used to avoid traffic tie ups Thursday morning directed drivers into neighborhoods, making residents angry. The repair work on the Wando Bridge along with a series of accidents in the Tri-County area made the morning commute miserable for many drivers. The Waze app is designed to tell drivers the fastest route and the best way to avoid heavy traffic. People who live in Dominion Hills in Hanahan say every day they deal with drivers cutting through their stre...More >>